100 Greatest Phillies: 57 – Johnny Moore

An expert hitter, Moore came from Cincinnati in a midseason 1934 trade for Ted Kleinhans, Wes Schulmerich and Art Ruble. Considering the Reds got only one season from Kleinhans and Schulmerich out of the trade, it was a steal for the Phillies. Moore was hitting .190 when he came to the Phils, then struck a .343 average the rest of the way. He continued with a .323 in 1935, a .328 in 1936 and a .319 in a minimized 1937. He struck out only 176 times in his career — that’s 23 less than Ryan Howard’s entire 2007 total. He also approached 100 RBI twice.

Comment: For some reason, Moore was amazing with the Phillies. His career before Philadelphia was mediocre, but once he hit the City of Brotherly Love, he became one of the game’s best hitters — a top 10 swinger for three consecutive seasons. He easily deserves his placement here.

24 Comments

Those are pretty good numbers. If he would have done that for two more years as a Phil, he could have been much higher on this list, I think. To think that he struck out less times in his career than Howard does during a bad month, amazes me. Boy, the game of baseball has drasticlly changed.

I woke up sick so I’m a bit cranky… I don’t mean to be critical but I’m sure it will sound that way.

Tim – so far, many players on this list only lasted 3-4 years with the Phillies… it seems like you gave a strong preference for averages over cumulative numbers. I’m guessing that will change but I would rank Puddin’ Head Jones much higher than Johnny Moore… the fact that he played for 13 years as a Phil is enough for me but he also amassed much better total numbers. You did note that you could have ranked Puddin’ Head higher… so I give you credit for pointing that out. Regardless, I would rank a lifer higher than a guy who just stumbled in and had two or three good years… even if he only batted .258. It’s hard to play in this league for any extended period of time, let alone ten years with the same team. A guy like that leaves a more permanent mark on franchise lore (I think that you really missed with Puddin’ Head… he was the defensive cornerstone of a team known for its defense. Certainly, one of the best defensive 3B of that decade and not a terrible hitter). That’s my opinion. Don’t get offended… you’re doing a great job and I love reading about some of these lesser known players.

My take, I didn’t know that Ludwick has such a MONSTER year last year until I looked back at the numbers.. but can he really repeat that? I snagged Soria early last year, and he was great for me.. Santana is more solid than you would think, and Nolasco puts up very similar numbers and should only get better..??

Don M., Rollins is the pick for your third hitter keeper. Reyes and Hanley are the top two SS, and they will most likely be kept. After Rollins, the quality drops off a lot and you’re left with Alexei Ramirez, Stephen Drew and Jeter. Go with Rollins.

As for the pitcher, I think it’s between Soria and E. Santana. I don’t know how many other closers will be kept, so it’s hard to say who to go with. E. Santana is probably a top 10-13 starting pitcher, while Soria is about the 6th or 7th best RP (only because he’s on the Royals). So I think I’d go Santana.

Last year my first two picks at #8 and #11 overall were Howard, and then Rollins… and I finished 8th of 10 in my league.

I was well out of any prize by the time Howard started putting the numbers up.. Soria is a top-closer, he converts almost every time, and the Royals hardly ever win by large margins.. same reason I grabbed Joe Borowski two years ago and he then lead the AL in Saves..

you need to find the average-above average teams, and jump on their closers, but this is my first time doing a keeper league, so I’m not sure what other starts aren’t kept if I dump Ervin Santana.. its crazy

and if CC Sabathia and Brandon Webb aren’t in the top 25.. then the stats they are using for their rankings, must not really include pitching, because they are both top-10 SPs everywhere I look, and more importantly, in my head

well, a lot of leagues don’t value starting pitcher as much as hitting. So guys like Webb and Sabathia will be the #3 or 4 SP, but they won’t make the overall top 25 list. The reason for this is that pitching is more unpredictable than hitting. PItchers get hurt a lot more than hitters, so picking stud hitters early is the safe route.

There must not be too many teams in the league… that’s a heck of a roster.

I’m not the best fantasy b-ball manager when it comes to drafting players. I’m above average when it comes to making trades. With that being said, here ya go…

Ellsbury and Rollins would be my first picks… not because I think they’re going to have the best seasons… it’s more difficult to find SS than it is to find OF. Ludwick is a monster and I was really hoping that we would make a run at him… but the Cards always seem to have these players that have one or two good years and fall off… he could fall into that category. When healthy, Chipper is the best producer but his health is always a concern and who is going to protect him in 09?

I had Santana in my fantasy league last year and he was a beast. He faded in the second half and that’s something to be concerned about. In my opinion, it’s between Santana and Nolasco. I would probably go with Nolasco. Soria was great but he’s still the Royals closer… there are usually two or three closers available on the FA wire that can be serviceable. It depends on how you want to build your team… I like going with high K starters.

Keep Rollins and Santana. Rollins’ numbers are hard to get from an SS; I don’t expect Ludwick to have the same kind of year he did last year. Santana vs. Soria is a close call, I’d take Sanatana because he’s a stud and I see the Royals being even WORSE this year leading to fewer good spots for Soria.

See I actually see the Royals scoring some runs this year, adding Coco Crisp and Mike Jacobs around a bunch of young talents… I wouldn’t be completely surprised to see the Royals win 75 games this year

Pitching needs to hold up, its not great, but they have Meche, Grienke, Kyle Davies, and Brian Bannister (who is sometimes good, sometimes horrible)